Patients say hospital stays are making them more ill

One in four reveal health deteriorated on wards and staff lacked compassion

ALMOST one in four patients have complained their condition deteriorated during their stay in a Scottish hospital.

An official survey also revealed one-fifth of patients described suffering problems including bed sores, infections and bad reactions to drugs, while more than one in 10 felt that when their health began to decline, staff did not respond quickly enough.

The survey, conducted on behalf of the Scottish Government, found 90 per cent of patients treated in hospital last year rated their overall care as excellent or good. However, it exposed some key issues, with 23 per cent saying their condition worsened while they were on the wards.

One-quarter of the 17,767 patients who responded said staff did not always treat them with compassion and understanding and 20 per cent said a doctor had spoken in front of them as though they were not there.

A spokesman for charity Age Scotland said it was essential the health service moved to address failings to “ensure the highest standard of dignity in care is being delivered”.

“The Scottish Patient Survey has many results Age Scotland would welcome, but we would hope there is never any complacency when it comes to improving standards,” he said.

“There are also a number of key points made to show that action must be taken to ensure the highest standard of dignity in care is being delivered. In addition, we would hope any issues around varying standards of care depending on which hospital you attend are corrected swiftly.

“We all know the NHS is under great pressure to deliver the excellent service that is does, but no-one should receive a different standard of care depending on your postcode.”

The findings were released on the same day as charity Cancer Research UK said new figures showing thousands of patients waiting longer than six weeks for diagnostic tests were “hugely worrying”.

NHS Scotland data revealed 13,200 patients waited longer than six weeks for a diagnostic test between April and June 2016. It also showed increasing numbers of patients queuing longer than other waiting times targets – including the legally binding pledge to treat people within 12 weeks.

Gregor McNie, the charity’s senior public affairs manager for Scotland, said: “The fact so many patients are waiting longer than six weeks for such a vital test is hugely worrying and simply not good enough. These statistics do show an improvement compared to the last quarter but much more needs to be done, including the speedy allocation of the promised £2 million of Scottish Government funding to alleviate the pressure on diagnostic services.

“Cancer is Scotland’s biggest killer, with half of the population expected to be diagnosed with the disease at some point in their lives. Making sure people have diagnostic tests quickly is a vital part of ensuring earlier diagnosis and prompt treatment for patients, including those who might have cancer.”

The Scottish Inpatient Experience Survey, which is intended to capture experience of hospital care in Scotland between April and September last year, was introduced by the SNP in 2010 and has now been carried out five times.

Overall, the proportion of patients making positive comments has remained the same or improved a little since the last survey was conducted in 2014. Those who thought the condition of the hospital ward itself was good or excellent has increased one per cent to 89 per cent.

However, satisfaction with some aspects of hospital services varies around the country.

Contentment with food quality varied widely. Meals served in Lanarkshire and Greater Glasgow and Clyde received the worst reviews. In Lanarkshire 56 per cent of patients were happy with the food they were served and in NHS GGC the figure was 59 per cent, while in other parts of the country satisfaction with the meals ran as high as 96 per cent.

Some health boards also appeared to be making more progress than others. There were no significant improvements A MOTHER of two has hit out at a sheriff’s decision to allow a former Territorial Army corporal to continue driving after he caused a crash that she claims may have led to her losing her unborn baby.

Amanda Ryan was involved in the crash after Robert Shepherd’s 1954 Alvis Saracen personnel carrier he was driving collided with her car a year ago. Ms Ryan, 28, had to be cut free. Two weeks later she suffered a miscarriage.

Alloa Sheriff Court did not hear about the miscarriage as Shepherd, 68, was fined for careless driving and had three points on his licence. Ms Ryan said: “Shepherd should have been banned before he hurts someone even worse, or causes a death. I lost my baby and I could be on painkillers for life, all as a result of him and his friend playing soldiers in a tank on a public road.”

in the results for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Borders or NHS Highland, according to a report on the findings, and patient satisfaction levels with some aspects of care had fallen significantly in these regions.

Health Secretary Shona Robison said the survey showed patient satisfaction levels were rising and said the Government would commit an extra £2 million towards driving down waiting times for appointments.

She said: “It’s especially pleasing to see more people rating their overall care as good or excellent. These show our decisions to put the patient at the heart of everything we do in our NHS, and to increase workforce numbers to record levels, are delivering results.”

She said the slip in waiting times was unacceptable.